Beginning in 1847, Abraham Lincoln entered national politics, and quickly made a name for himself for his personal convictions and blunt honesty.

Leaving private life as an Illinois lawyer in 1846 (at the age of thirty seven) to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Abraham Lincoln was, for the first time, setting himself on the national stage.

Before this, Lincoln had become a prominent local politician, serving four terms in the state legislature, but was mostly unknown outside of Illinois.

First Impressions

The Mexican-American War had begun just as Lincoln began his campaign for the office, though he had remained tight-lipped regarding his opinion of the conflict throughout.

As soon as he had arrived in Washington, however, Lincoln began to speak out publically against the war, and against President Polk, a Democrat. Lincoln claimed that Polk had gone to war under false pretenses, and had not been entirely honest with the American people. It was a bold attack against the President from a brand new, unknown congressman from a pro-war state.

This was the highlight of Lincoln's brief stint in Washington (his promise to serve only a single term had been one of the reasons for his victory in the election). After briefly campaigning in nearby states for Presidential candidate Zachary Taylor (who had been a heroic general in the war Lincoln so opposed), he returned to Illinois, "retiring" to Springfield, where he would practice law once again.

Lawyer Once Again

From 1849-1854, Lincoln became one of the most successful lawyers in Illinois, arguing thousands of cases, including several hundred before the state Supreme Court, ranging from pety to vitally important.

In 1854, Lincoln was elected again to the state Legislature, returning to politics in outrage over the Kansas-Nebraska Act under President Pierce, which extended the rights of pro-slavery advocates in the territories (in opposition to the Missouri Comprimise which had held since 1820).

He resigned his seat in the legislature to run for one of the state's Senate seats that same year, but lost on the ninth ballot. Seeing that the Whig party with which he had been affiliated for so long no longer retained political effectiveness, Lincoln officially joined a new party - the Republican party - in 1856.

1858 Election and National Fame

Lincoln's first real national exposure came as a result of his second campaign for the U.S. Senate, against sitting Senator (and former candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination against James Buchanan) Stephen Douglas, who was an advocate of southern slaveholders.

The seven debates which resulted from this campaign, focused mainly on the issue of slavery, are some of the most important in American history. The debates, by two men who had become known as great orators (Lincoln had sharply honed these skills as a lawyer, while Douglas had served more than a decade in the Senate), were followed by the entire nation, as they beautifully represented the great division which had been plaguing the Union for several years.

Lincoln, in the debates (and in his famous "House Divided" speech), took the high moral ground on the issue of slavery, claiming that it violated the most basic tenants of the Declaration of Independence. Douglas, however, asserted that the law (including the infamous Dred Scott Surpreme Court decision) allowed local authorities to use their discretion in the issue of slavery, which was more constitutional.

Douglas won the election that year, but Lincoln had set himself up as a prominent national figure - a figurehead for the dominant "freesoil" position of the North. While he had sympathy for the abolitionist movement, he himself did not take an extreme stance on the issue, making him somewhat "moderate," and thus much more electable.

The Swift Road to the White House

Two years later, this popularity would lead Lincoln to the Presidential nomination for his Republican party, which had begun to dominate the northern states, while the Democratic party appealed much more to the south.

As the term of James Buchanan neared its end and the sectional divide grew ever wider, the Presidential election of 1860 demonstrated vividly the fate of the nation. Lincoln, while dominating the north, appeared on no southern ballots at all. His election to the Presidency occurred with no southern support at all.

The south, not willing to be governed by a man who represented their interests not at all, began quickly to secede. By the time Lincoln arrived in office, seven southern states had seceded from the Union, and the new President found himself in one of the most difficult positions ever faced by an American President.

See also:

The Early Politics of Abraham Lincoln

The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln

References:

"Abraham Lincoln." American Presidents: An Online Reference Resource.

"The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858."